Last week I said I planned on listening to more hip-hop. Well, that sort of happened. I ended up listening to more experimental rap/hip-hop albums instead. The closest to traditional rap here is probably Outkast and Denzel Curry. Even then the two is relatively experimental. Stankonia didn't sound anything like other rap albums of its time. BOB, had a mix of synth leads, guitar solos and gospel music thrown in. Alright, enough with Stankonia, I'll focus on the lesser known albums instead.
Also, I think this is my first time arranging my albums in some kind of color scheme. Normally it doesn't bother me but the yellow-to-orange range was screaming coordination. Too good to give up.
Anyway, here's last week's album list.
Moodie Black - Lucas Acid
Sons of Kemet - My Queen Is Harriet Tubman
Tyler, the Creator - Flower Boy
Jesus Piece - Only Self
Mouthbreather - Dollmeat
Pulsing x Void Dweller - Killscreen
Jackie Frank Russell III - I'm So Fucking Lonely
Power Trip - Nightmare Logic
White Lung - Deep Fantasy
The Comet Is Coming - Channel The Spirits
JPEGMAFIA - VETERAN
Death Grips - Jenny Death
Killeur Calculateur - Arus
Pallbearer - Heartless
Converge - The Dusk In Us
Converge - All We Love We Leave Behind
Street Sects - End Position
Echo beds - Buried Language
Denzel Curry - TA13OO
Eyehategod - Eyehategod
Sectioned - Annihilated
OutKast - Stankonia
Bolt Thrower - Those Once Loyal
Nails - You Will Never Be One Of Us
Crowbar - The Serpent Only Lies
I have a feeling this will be my most diverse chartpost/music round up so far. So anyway, here are the choice cuts for the week.
Choice Cuts:
Name: Moodie Black
Album Title: Lucas Acid
Genre(s): Noise Rap, Industrial, Shoegaze
Year of Release: 2018
I'm pretty sure most noise rap artists roll their eyes whenever they read reviews about their music being compared to Death Grips. At times I pity them. JPEGMAFIA's trap flavored noise rap and industrial gets the unfair treatment, just because it's abrasive. At times I think it's necessary seeing how Death Grips popularized the genre and used the power of memes to propel them into the pages of Pitchfork. And to be fair, they did add enough of their flavor to make them stand out and be unique.
Unfortunately for Moodie Black, I have to compare Lucas Acid to Death Grips to describe this album, despite Moodie Black being longer in the scene and probably were one of the earlier pioneers of noise rap. More specifically I have to compare them to No Love Deep Web (NLDW).
This feels like a more mature, tranquilized version of NLDW. From the stripped down, yet face punching synths production to the barking delivery of Ride. However where NLDW just sounds like a barrage of heavily distorted synths from a Godflesh record, Lucas Acid provides a direction for the synths. It is abrasive, yet melodic with a focus on the shoegaze-inspired distortion, unlike the piano melody accompanied abrasion of JPEGMAFIA. The music of NLDW feels contained yet Lucas Acid's beats have enough space from the layers of gazey reverb. The drums are tight, mechanical, and cold while NLDW had a lot more space to breathe like a hardcore punk record.
Yet both the synths in the track No Love and v a n o w e n f. p i e r r e m o t t r o n sound like sister synthlines. Abrasive, yet atmospheric. I feel like walking through a dilapidated neighborhood with residents tired of outsiders when listening to it. While No Love ends with a beatdown (no pun intended), v a n o w e n f. p i e r r e m o t t r o n ends with you walking away to a trailing bass.
The lyrics are also some of the most honest experiences I've heard for quite some time. K, one half of Moodie Black is a transgender POC in a world of Trump. I don't know enough about the transwoman experience and transition so as a cisgendered man, it sounds refreshing in a genre that is infamously known for its transphobia and misogyny.
I would highly recommend this to anyone who enjoys noise rap. They've been ignored for far too long.
I'm pretty sure most noise rap artists roll their eyes whenever they read reviews about their music being compared to Death Grips. At times I pity them. JPEGMAFIA's trap flavored noise rap and industrial gets the unfair treatment, just because it's abrasive. At times I think it's necessary seeing how Death Grips popularized the genre and used the power of memes to propel them into the pages of Pitchfork. And to be fair, they did add enough of their flavor to make them stand out and be unique.
Unfortunately for Moodie Black, I have to compare Lucas Acid to Death Grips to describe this album, despite Moodie Black being longer in the scene and probably were one of the earlier pioneers of noise rap. More specifically I have to compare them to No Love Deep Web (NLDW).
This feels like a more mature, tranquilized version of NLDW. From the stripped down, yet face punching synths production to the barking delivery of Ride. However where NLDW just sounds like a barrage of heavily distorted synths from a Godflesh record, Lucas Acid provides a direction for the synths. It is abrasive, yet melodic with a focus on the shoegaze-inspired distortion, unlike the piano melody accompanied abrasion of JPEGMAFIA. The music of NLDW feels contained yet Lucas Acid's beats have enough space from the layers of gazey reverb. The drums are tight, mechanical, and cold while NLDW had a lot more space to breathe like a hardcore punk record.
Yet both the synths in the track No Love and v a n o w e n f. p i e r r e m o t t r o n sound like sister synthlines. Abrasive, yet atmospheric. I feel like walking through a dilapidated neighborhood with residents tired of outsiders when listening to it. While No Love ends with a beatdown (no pun intended), v a n o w e n f. p i e r r e m o t t r o n ends with you walking away to a trailing bass.
The lyrics are also some of the most honest experiences I've heard for quite some time. K, one half of Moodie Black is a transgender POC in a world of Trump. I don't know enough about the transwoman experience and transition so as a cisgendered man, it sounds refreshing in a genre that is infamously known for its transphobia and misogyny.
I would highly recommend this to anyone who enjoys noise rap. They've been ignored for far too long.
Name: Pulsing x Void Dweller
Album Title: KILLSCREEN
Genre(s): Noise Rap, Industrial, Chiptune, Digital Hardcore, Glitch Hop
Year of Release: 2018
Just to be clear, I'm Facebook friends with Trevor Barker aka Void Dweller. He gave comments and advice for my previous industrial and noise rap records before too. So maybe there is some kind of bias towards this record. This is the musical equivalent of taking a crowbar to your manic cousin's Gameboy as they scream in sheer horror about the destruction you caused. It's exhilarating, exciting, and would do it again just to see the face of your distraught cousin. Yes, I know I sound like the worst babysitter ever and you're probably right.
If Moodie Black feels like a gazey version of NLDW (sorry noise rap heads for the Death Grips reference over and over again), Trevor's collab with chiptune/digital hardcore producer is what happens when you have a post-hardcore kid listened to Death Grips and decided rapping is cool. Previous Void Dweller records had Trevor screaming his lungs out like hardcore vocalist all while delivering bars, on top of samples from metal bands. He sampled Electric Wizard for goodness sake. This EP, on the other hand, is him taking that influence and have 8bit sounds spread on it.
Old Death Grips is all about abrasion and aggressiveness while later day Death Grips is a bit more emotional and took a myriad of influences from prog rock to psychedelia. This has clearly divided fans dividing them into two camps, especially after the release of Year of The Snitch. The first camp had more fans from punk and metal backgrounds while the second had more fans who were just attracted to outsider-art, avant-garde noise, and all-out experimentation.
This EP by Void Dweller and Pulsing is for fans from the first camp. It's what fans imagined Death Grips to be about and what they wanted Death Grips to be. A little bit more punk, abrasive, and angrier. There's nothing wrong with that. And if I feel the need to spend time with my punching bag and don't feel like listening to metal or punk, this might do the trick.
Year of Release: 2018
Just to be clear, I'm Facebook friends with Trevor Barker aka Void Dweller. He gave comments and advice for my previous industrial and noise rap records before too. So maybe there is some kind of bias towards this record. This is the musical equivalent of taking a crowbar to your manic cousin's Gameboy as they scream in sheer horror about the destruction you caused. It's exhilarating, exciting, and would do it again just to see the face of your distraught cousin. Yes, I know I sound like the worst babysitter ever and you're probably right.
If Moodie Black feels like a gazey version of NLDW (sorry noise rap heads for the Death Grips reference over and over again), Trevor's collab with chiptune/digital hardcore producer is what happens when you have a post-hardcore kid listened to Death Grips and decided rapping is cool. Previous Void Dweller records had Trevor screaming his lungs out like hardcore vocalist all while delivering bars, on top of samples from metal bands. He sampled Electric Wizard for goodness sake. This EP, on the other hand, is him taking that influence and have 8bit sounds spread on it.
Old Death Grips is all about abrasion and aggressiveness while later day Death Grips is a bit more emotional and took a myriad of influences from prog rock to psychedelia. This has clearly divided fans dividing them into two camps, especially after the release of Year of The Snitch. The first camp had more fans from punk and metal backgrounds while the second had more fans who were just attracted to outsider-art, avant-garde noise, and all-out experimentation.
This EP by Void Dweller and Pulsing is for fans from the first camp. It's what fans imagined Death Grips to be about and what they wanted Death Grips to be. A little bit more punk, abrasive, and angrier. There's nothing wrong with that. And if I feel the need to spend time with my punching bag and don't feel like listening to metal or punk, this might do the trick.
Name: Jackie Frank Russell III
Album Title: I'm So Fucking Lonely
Genre(s): Progressive Metal, Mathcore, Electronica, Funk, Avant-Garde
Yes, the album name makes this sound like it's some kind of emo rap. But no, this is far from Lil Peep. The reason why this post is out on a Monday instead of a Sunday this week is because I was struggling to describe this whole album.
The album starts off with weird electronica that explodes into a blast of mathcore with chunky progressive rock ideas that are accompanied by a flurry of synths. If that wasn't weird enough, the second track vibe (yes, small letter v) was a cross between Faith No More, Haken and funk rolled into one track. What's amazing is that the song transitions from prog rock, funky vibes and afro beat yet still managed to sound coherent. There are like a hundred ideas in this track that I didn't know it could work if Mike Patton wasn't the central glue.
If the album wasn't Mike Patton enough for you, the following tracks sound Enslaved trying to write a Converge record. Imagine the chaotic hardcore noises but explode into the beautiful blast beat led clean vocals progressive rock Enslaved used to pull off in between their black metal-tinged progressive metal.
I want to describe this as Haken meets Converge meets Faith No More but even then it doesn't do it justice. Maybe a Dillinger Escape Plan with the jazz influence replaced with a funk vibe (pun not intended) but written by Haken. This review, if you can call it so, just jumps into a thousand concepts but that's how it feels like listening to this EP. But Jackie's versatility makes the whole thing more coherent. Just listen to the madness for yourself.
Weirdest (but good) experience of the week.
Name: Jesus Piece
Weirdest (but good) experience of the week.
Name: Jesus Piece
Album Title: Only Self
Genre(s): Hardcore, Metalcore, Sludge Metal
Year of Release: 2018
It feels weird that this is probably the most straightforward release I've picked to talk about this week. Despite the combination of sounds, there is no pretension coming from this hardcore band. They just want to create music that fucking rips and forces people to mosh. Even since the first time I heard the band, I was listening to them in my bedroom in the middle of the night but I can't stop feeling the need to mosh.
This is Xibalba mixed with sludgy and doom metal riffs. Despite the high-speed aggression and Bolt Thrower influenced riffs the band isn't afraid to throw in chunky sludge riffs. They fall into breakdowns that could easily invite crowdkillers into mosh pits, yet they don't sound like dumb one note chugs. The breakdowns are easily some of the heaviest Crowbar influenced riffs. The addition of these different influences doesn't just exist for the sake of experimentation but they go hand in hand as if they were natural. Which makes sense since the Both Thrower sound has long influenced this type of beatdown hardcore with their death metal like drumming and Crowbar's thick sludgy riffs have its roots in hardcore. So everything blends so well together. Even the doomier parts that out of context that can be placed in a Pallbearer record blended well with the hardcore flurry of noise.
Aaron Heard's vocals sound like a refined deeper Jamey Jasta if Jamey listened to more grindcore or Bolt Thrower instead of the semi discernable Roots-era Sepultura. His lows are close to death growls but still maintain the hardcore vocal strain that easily dries up the throat. If music vocal stylings were languages, think death metal as Heard's second language while beatdown hardcore as his first language. He is going low but maintains a thick hardcore accent but doesn't give a fuck because he owns the language now. Like a creole that becomes part of the identity of a people if you will.
The angriest record I've heard in such a long time. This is progressive music that doesn't require you to think much. It's like Nails with chunkier writing if you will.
It feels weird that this is probably the most straightforward release I've picked to talk about this week. Despite the combination of sounds, there is no pretension coming from this hardcore band. They just want to create music that fucking rips and forces people to mosh. Even since the first time I heard the band, I was listening to them in my bedroom in the middle of the night but I can't stop feeling the need to mosh.
This is Xibalba mixed with sludgy and doom metal riffs. Despite the high-speed aggression and Bolt Thrower influenced riffs the band isn't afraid to throw in chunky sludge riffs. They fall into breakdowns that could easily invite crowdkillers into mosh pits, yet they don't sound like dumb one note chugs. The breakdowns are easily some of the heaviest Crowbar influenced riffs. The addition of these different influences doesn't just exist for the sake of experimentation but they go hand in hand as if they were natural. Which makes sense since the Both Thrower sound has long influenced this type of beatdown hardcore with their death metal like drumming and Crowbar's thick sludgy riffs have its roots in hardcore. So everything blends so well together. Even the doomier parts that out of context that can be placed in a Pallbearer record blended well with the hardcore flurry of noise.
Aaron Heard's vocals sound like a refined deeper Jamey Jasta if Jamey listened to more grindcore or Bolt Thrower instead of the semi discernable Roots-era Sepultura. His lows are close to death growls but still maintain the hardcore vocal strain that easily dries up the throat. If music vocal stylings were languages, think death metal as Heard's second language while beatdown hardcore as his first language. He is going low but maintains a thick hardcore accent but doesn't give a fuck because he owns the language now. Like a creole that becomes part of the identity of a people if you will.
The angriest record I've heard in such a long time. This is progressive music that doesn't require you to think much. It's like Nails with chunkier writing if you will.
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